Keeping Teeth White While Drinking Coffee

It's almost summer and along with summer comes.... iced coffee!!
I had my first taste of iced coffee when I went on a trip to Taiwan.  At first, I thought, "How weird is this? " But when I tasted it, "WHOA! Where have you been all my life??"

For me, winter is best with a hot cup of green tea. Summers are definitely iced coffee time.
Now that warmer weather is right around the corner, I have a slew of requests for custom whitening trays and refill kits.

My latest article for Weekly Biz, Japanese newspaper is about how to keep your teeth whiter if you're one of those people that absolutely have to have their cuppa joe.

Enjoy the article and enjoy the iced coffee! Yumminess!

Can I Drink Coffee While Keeping MyTeeth White?

My Dad loves drinking strong dark coffee. I think he’s an Italian at heart. He had travelled to Italy as a young man and ever since his first espresso; he complains that all other coffees are weak and tasteless. Lately, he’s been changing the way he takes his coffee. It had me wondering because ever since I was little, the only way he would take his coffee was with sugar and black. A few months ago, he started adding honey to his coffee instead of sugar. This time, I see that he adds milk.  Were his tastes changing with age?

If there’s something my Dad likes more than coffee, it’s FREE coffee!  When I had lunch with him last week, I knew exactly which diner to take him to. The one that had free coffee refills!  I watched him pour in some honey, then some milk. Maybe he likes the sweetness of honey better? Maybe he wants a smoother coffee?  When I asked him why the change in habits, he answered, “White sugar is really bad for your body. If I want to sweeten something, I’ll put in honey.  It’s all natural.”  But why add milk?  “I’ve found that black coffee stains my teeth too quickly. By adding milk, it stains less.”

I’ve also recently read that adding milk to coffee will indeed lessen the staining.  It makes the coffee a lighter color and there are compounds in milk that helps prevent the stains from sticking. It works to prevent staining on real teeth as well as denture teeth.  If you don’t want to add milk to your daily coffee, the best thing to do is rinse with water afterwards, chew a sugarless gum and make sure your tongue is clean. 

 I asked my Dad if he heard this or read it somewhere. He said, “No, it’s just common sense! I want to keep my smile bright even if it’s not my own teeth!”  I’m glad that even at 84 years of age, my Dad looks younger than he actually is! Having a brighter smile definitely helps! 

This Patient Made Me The Most Nervous

People ask me if I'm nervous treating my husband in the dental chair. Nope, not at all.
People ask me if I'm nervous treating my kids in the dental chair. Nah, you're kidding, right?
People ask me if I'm nervous treating my Dad in the dental chair. Never. It's just Dad!

I've never had someone in my dental chair that made me nervous until last week.

My little niece came in for her first dental visit a few weeks ago. (cue drum roll!)

This Little Patient Made Me The Most Nervous

“Choose a job that you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life” This quote is from Confucius.  I have heard of this quote but never realize who it was from.  I looked it up on the internet and all the searches included a picture of Confucius looking like an old Chinese man.  Somehow, if a quote comes from an old man with a beard, it’s automatically a wise saying.

That quote is so true of how I feel about being a dentist.  I really enjoy waking up in the morning and coming to work.  Seeing the list of patients on my computer makes me happy because I know I’ll be helping people and they will leave smiling. Most of these patients have been coming to the office for a long time so I get to know them very well. It’s like catching up with friends.

The other week, there was a patient that made me very nervous when I saw her name on my schedule. It was a new patient that I’ve never seen in my office before but just seeing her name made me very anxious. The sweet little 4 year old angel coming into see me was my little niece. This was her first dental visit ever.  She is a wonderful child, well mannered, polite and loves me.  That’s the problem… the last part. She loves me.  She loves me as her auntie and I want to keep it that way.  I don’t want her to be scared of me being her dentist. What if she didn’t want me to even look in her mouth?  What if she refused to sit in the big chair? What if she started to cry?  People who are nervous at the dentist as adults usually had a scary dental visit when they were a child.  I wasn’t sure how she would react that day but I was determined to make it a fun visit for her.  While I checked her parents’ mouths, she sat in the assistant’s chair.  She had on goggles, a mask and gloves and she “helped” me while I checked Mommy and Daddy’s teeth. After they were done, she asked, “Is it my turn now? I want Auntie to check my teeth too!”  (Her parents were such good examples of well-behaved patients! )

Great! This is going to be a fabulous visit!  I explained everything I was going to do and showed her all my dental “toys”.  She sat in the chair while I checked her teeth, we counted how many teeth she had, I cleaned her teeth and gave her a fluoride treatment. What a perfect visit!  We took a picture to remember that moment.  I know she wasn’t a bit nervous but I admit, I took a deep breath of relief after smiling for the photo when I really had nothing to worry about after all.  I’m looking forward to seeing her in my dental chair again in 6 months.  Nothing to worry about at all!